Machine for corrugating material.



E. R. LOCHIVIAN. MACHINE FOR CORRUGATING MATERIAL. APPLICATION FILED :uu/11.1915.

A MW ,All I ,will A( llll VE/I/ TOI? Eatented Apr. 23,1918.

E. R. LOCHIVIAN. MACHINEFUR CORRUGATING MATERIAL. APPLICATION FILED JULY 11.1915.

Mtented Apr. 23,1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET V2.

E. R.. LOCHMAN. u MACHINE FOR CORBUGATING MATERIAL. APPLICATION FILED JUITY IL |915.

Patented Apr. 23,1918, 221 4V SHEETS-SHEET 3.

l l l El n. LOCHMAN. .MACHINV FOR CORRUGATINGYMATERIAL. APPLICATION FILED JULY 11,1915- memed Apu 23, 1918.

4 SHEETS--SHEET 4.

. .57 v 53 I Q.,

/N V /V TUR. YM

inname,

main m nostri/mn, or4 MILWM'JKEE, wisconsin. I

MACHINE roi?u connuea'rrnd MATERIAL.

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that LFMIL R. LOOHMAN, a citizen of the .United States, and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for v Corrugating Material, ofwhich the following l accompanym is aJ description, reference being had to the drawings, which are/V a part of this speci cation.

The invention relates to corrugatingv machines. t

The invention is designed more particularly to provide a machine for corrugating brittle material such as .wood veneer though it may be used with equally beneficial results 1n corrugating straw board or other pressible sheet material. The invention is further designed toJprovide a machine for producing interlockable corrugated material,` t at is, material in ment but the interlockable corrugated ma' which each corrugation is interlockable with anyv other corrugation of", the` material.

Plain corrugated material is well known and used for pacln'ng articles for shipv terial is superior to'gthe plain material tening means andv further because Yit pro-V because` the corrugations permit the ma terial to be wrapped around an artile yand to be fastened by its Qwn corrugatons thus dispensing with any additional fasduces by-.its own formation a stronger material due to the inward bent form, making of each corrugation a complete self-supporting arch,'resi'sting a. great deal o f pressure -while the ordinary corrugation would give away by spreading out flat.

I l cated in Fig. 2;

The lnvention consists in the fseveral fea'- tures hereinafter set forth and more par-l ticularly denedhbyolaims at the conclu2 sion hereof. ff

lin the drawings: Figure 1 `is avertical sectional view of the maehlne embodyin the invention, sald. section being taken a ong the line l-l indi- Fig. 2 1s` another sectional View of the machiney said section being taken along the "line 2--2 of Fig. l, the aprons .being removed; i

- Fig, 3 is a detail view of oneof the apron supports;

0f Fig; 9;' J

Flg. 12 is a section taken on the line' 12- 12 the front end Patented Apr.. 23, llFl i y Application mea July 17, 1915. serial Noi 40,356. l i

of the machine showing the sheet material '1 introduced between the aprons;\ "r

Fig.v 6 is an enlarged detail view of the rearof the machine; i

- Fig. '7 is a detail view of thel machine showing the mannerv of'driving the aprons;

corrugation forming 'Fig. 8 is a view of one of the (fdrrugating bars formingthe apron, part [being brokenaWay;

Fig. 9 1s another view of one of the corrugating bars showing itsl rod and link con- 'Y nection and Figs." 8 and 9 together show oppsitely dlsposed corrugating bars;

j Fig. 10 is a of Fig. 9; p s

Fig. 11 is a section taken on theline lll-l1 of rig. e;

section taken on the line llo-1 0 Fig. 13 is` a detail view of a modified form i of drive forthe upper apron; and y Fig. 14 is a detail View of one of the stripper blocks.

Before proceeding with adctailed eXplanation of the machine, the methd of producing the corrugated material will be Vde*- sc'ribed.' This consists 'in preferablymois-- tening the sheet material and then introduc lng the material in this condition between.

intermeshing corrugation-forming endless.

aprons to press the material between them,

heating the material, if previously moistened, ywhile it is being pressed into shape by the aprons t0 dry'and set it and then veneer it is practically necessary to moisten the materlal before forming the *corrugations.

means for driving said aprons, and meansfor fremoving the corrugated material from. the

aprons.I ln case the material is moistened stripping the material from the aprons. lln making corrugated material from lwood.

from the neck 18 formed by the grooves to form a transversely extending rounded head 19. In the present instance I have shown bars. for making interlockable corrugated material in which the neck 18 is smaller than the head 19. The bars 15 are disposed side by side so that adjacent grooves 17 form grooves 20 in one apron which are adapted to receive the heads 19 on the bars of the oppositely disposed apron. so that saidl aprons will intermesh with each other.

The means for joining the bars 15 together to form a flexible apron comprises a plurality'of round rods 21 and means for pivotally and exibly securing the rods to adjacent bars of the apron. This means comprises semi-circular grooves 22 formed in both sides of the bars preferably below the longitudinal axis of the bar and each rod 21 is adapted to be disposed between the grooves 22 in two abutting bars and means are also provided for pivotally connecting the rods together consisting of links 23, 24, and 25, each link connecting together and in succession two adjacent rods forming a chain so that three bars and three links and a pivotal movement upon rods 21. It

will-be noted that the form of pivotal connection between the rods 21 and the bars 15 will cause a pressure exerted upon any one of the bars to be transmitted to and therefore resisted by the adjacent bars.

The means for supporting the aprons A and B comprises a frame 27, transversely extending bridges28 mounted in the frame, supporting means for the apron carried by said bridges and longitudinally extending plates 28 secured to the bridges and disposed between them. 4

The bridges 28 each consist of trans- 'are adapted to iit in the recesses 31.

versely extending portions 29 secured to the frame, and outwardly extending web or bearing portions 30 integral with said portions 29. Adjacent the portions 29, the webs 30 of the bridge are provided with recesses 31 and semi-circular recesses 32 and bearing plates 33 having semi-circular recesses 34 registering with the recesses 32 The ends 35 of the webs 30 of three of the bridges are provided with bearing recesses 36, and bearing plates 37 provided with bearing recesses 38 registering with the recesses 36are secured to said ends. The end of the upper right hand bridge is provided with recesses 31 and bearing recesses 32 and bearing plates 33 having bearing recesses 34 f registering with the recesses 32 are adapted to fit in the recesses 31, Figs. 1, 2 and 4.

The supporting means for the aprons includes rollers 39 provided with reduced end 40 and reduced portions 41 which reduced end and portions are adapted to revolubly fit within the bearings formed by the recesses 32 in the web and the recesses 34 in thel bearing plates 33. The supporting means for the apron also includes shafts 42 which are revolubly mounted in the recesses 36 and38 and these shafts carry apron supporting rollers 43. The bottom edge of the apron bars 15 ride upon the rollers 39 and 43 as shown in Fig. 1.

The means for spreading the corrugating4 bars so that their upper ends will open to receive and to permit the discharge of the material consists of the rollers 39 above described, the connection of the bars withl the.

determined thickness that is the rollers 39 must cause the apron bars to travel over a certain predetermined arc so that the bottom edges of the bars contacting with the rollers will be drawn together to bring the tapered .sides 22 of the bars into abutting contact with each other thus moving the bottom ends of the bars inwardly toward each other and the corrugation-forming portions -of the bars outwardly. This spreading of the corrugation-forming portions of the bars is absolutely necessary when the bars are provided with interlockable corrugation-forming portions for the material must be introduced between the bars of the oppositely disposed aprons before said aprons are brought into interlocking intermeshing relation with each other. When the corrugating aprons are led over'a plane surface, the tapered sidesof the bars of two adjoining bars spread a certain distance` while the sides of the bars above the to: theaprons' and a roller. 49, preferably driven at a slower speed than the material is taken point of pivotal connection withfrods close up tightly and in that condition form a solid bed. However, when these corrugat- `ing aprons are led over the rollers 39, then the corrugation-forming ends of the bars spread a certain distancewhile the tapered sides close tightly against one another to form a solidly locked member like a section of a solid corrugating rol/ler, with the outer parts spread s o that the heads 19 vof, the apron 4A may fold into the necks 18 ofthe apron B; and vice versa. The edgesof the corrugating bars ofthe apron A are tapered j more than those of the' apron B to make the apron A more flexible so that the corrugating bars of the two aprons Canmore readily mesh and'fold into 'each other -without .cutting or injuring the material while it is `being fed in between these aprons to be corrugated.v The apron B will-bedesignated as the tight apron7 while the apron A will be `known as the loose Aor follower apron.

,The means for driving the aprons cem- Aprises means for driving' the lower apron and consequently the upper apron as the up- '1 per apron will move with the lower apron since the corrugating bars on the aprons intermesh with each other. This means consists of sprockets 44 mounted on the shafts 42, said sprockets' intermeshing; with .the round vrods' `21 of the apron andthe bars 15 having notches 45 therein to accommodate the sprockets, Figs. 7, 8 and 9. 1n Fig. 13 ll have shown a modiedn form of .driving 4means. whichconsists in extending the bottom -edges of the bars and shaping them to form teeth 46 which mesh l with the teeth on, the sprocket 44. This construction shown in Fig. 13 `may be used if desired in connection with either one of the aprons. lThe shaft 42 at'the front of the machine is provided with a -pulley `47 -K which is adapted to be connected up to: a

suitable source of 'power' by a belt connec- .tion. The :rotation of the front shaft 742l will move the lower( apron, the upper apron y and the vrollers "supporting: these aprons.

, A table' 48 is mounted on the frame at the l front ofthemachine having its upper \sur' face in linewith the center line between by thel aprons, mounted onthe frame of the y machine coperates. with said table to intro-- duce or feed the sheet material C under a certain tension into the '-bight of the corrugation-forming means.

6, 48,19' and 12. The blades v53 at the rear 'of the'y machine engagingin the slots 55 remove the corrugated material from the apron B and the blades 52 `at the, front of the machine yengage in the slots 54- and remove the material from the apron A so that it passes onto a delivery table 56, Fig. 1. The barl'is vprovided with a guard and guide member 57. to prevent the ...material rom leavingv the upper apron B while the bars of said apron are partly extended, passing around the roller 43. f

The means vfor drying 'the material while on the aprons comprises burners 58 mounted itt beneath the aprons where said aprons contact with each other and burners 59 mounted beneath the upper run of the apron A. As.

plate 61 is mounted above the lower run" of the apron A upon the bridges 28 to divide rthemachine into upper and lower chambers and deflect the moisture from the upper chamber.

The operation of the machine is as fol-` lowszThe material Cis delivered'in a moist condition uponthe table 4 8 and led between' said table and the feed roller 49 to a position between the aprons A and B adjacent thel rollers 39 at the front of the machine. The bars of the aprons being spread 'at this point the material is fed between the bars and as it passes along between the aprons A and B and said rollers, .the` bars close up into interlocking relation forcing the material to form' to the interlocking configuration l,of the barsand pressing it and feeding it .along as the aprons pass over the lower plate 28. Y plate the heat. from the burners 58 partially dry the material so as to set it and when it has traveled to theirear of the machine the stripper blades-'53'remove it from the lower 'apron' B at the point where the aprons diverge and the corrugating bars are again.

spread apart `by lthe cbperation of the rollers v39 and the tapered ends of the bars. @n leaving thelower apron, thematerial is Vcarried along by the Lupper apron and over the upper plate 28" where it is subjected to the heat from' th'e burners 59 to further dry and set it. Thus the material is rst dried -while in the intermeshing run of and lower` aprons and' then after being stripped from the lower apron it is still held firmly' by the upper apron and dried during Aits upper run and more readily dried in this upper run because one. side of the material is exposed while heldby the barsthus giving the moisture la better chance toescape During its passage over said the upperl than when the material is gripped between the intermeshing run of aprons. The proper drying of the material is important because the interlocking capacity of the material depends on the latter being thoroughly dry and set in its form, as a slight dampness of the material opens 1t and spoils its interlockable feature. Furthermore by reason of the holding of the material and drying during practically the entire run of the aprons the aprons may be run faster and consequently the output of the machine increased. After passing over said plate 28 it isvremoved onto the delivery table 56 by the stripper blades 52 at the time when the upper front roller 39 coperates with the bars to spread them apart.

The lower front roller 39 can be provided with raised portions cut out to form sprockets which, similar to the sprockets 4A, may engage the rods 21 to drive the apron 1nstead of using the sprockets 44 and it is also to be noted that the corrugating bars need not be long bars but each of said bars could be made up of a plurality of short bars or links held together bythe long hinge rods 21. f l

The invention thus exemplies a method and a machine for producing corrugated material whereby the sheet material passing between the corrugation-forming aprons will be corrugated by said aprons.

The invention is not to bev restricted to the details of construction herein set forth but 2. A corrugating apron comprising corrugating bars having grooves on both sides, the grooves on adjacent bars forming. apertures, means pivotally disposedwithin said apertures for allowing movement of the bars with respect to each other, and means for connecting said pivotally disposed means together. 4

3. A corrugating apron comprising corrugating bars, means for iiexibly connecting said bars together' in abutting relation with each other so that pressure applied to any one bar will be resisted by the adjoining ars.

4. A corrugating apron comprising'bars having semi-circular grooves therein, the grooves of adjoining bars forming apertures, rods disposed within said grooves to permit said bars to partially rotate thereon but to resist any pressure tending to bend any of said bars, and means for joining said rods together whereby said bars will be joined together in series.

5. A corrugating apron comprising bars having semi-circular grooves therein, the grooves of adjoining bars forming apertures between said bars, rods pivotally disposed within said apertures, said bars having a plurality of slots therein, and links disposed within said slots and connected to said rods to form a flexible endless corrugating apron.

6. A corrugating apron comprising corrugating bars having semi-circular grooves therein on each side, the grooves of adjoining bars forming apertures therein between said bars, .round rods disposed in said grooves forming hinge centers for said bars, said bars having tapered sides below said hinge center to permit their movement toward or away from each other, and means for iiexibly connecting said rods together.

7 A corrugating apron comprising abutting corrugating members, means for operatively connecting a series of said members together to form an endless apron and means for holding said members rigid when led over a round support of predetermined diameter.

8. A corrugating apron comprising a plurality of abutting bars vhaving corrugationforming edges and bearing surfaces at the opposite ends, hinge connections for said corrugating bars whereby said edges of adjoining bars will spread apart when said bearing surfaces of said bars are led over a v round support of predetermined diameter.

9. A corrugating apron comprising bars having corrugation-forming heads, hinge connections for said bars intermediate the top and bottom thereof and below the longitudinal axis through the center of gravity of said bars whereby said bars will have a slight swinging motion above said hinge connections.

l0. A corrugating machine including in combination oppositely disposed interlockable flexible corrugation-forming aprons and supporting means for said aprons including flat supports and rollers of predetermined diameter, said aprons consisting of a plurality of corrugating bars having bearing surfaces running directly upon said supporting means, means for hingedly connecting the bars of each apron together so that they will stand out rigidly upon the rollers when passing thereover and so that the bars on opposite aprons will fold into each other ywhen passing over said rollers and will be interlocked with each other while passing over said fiat supports.

11. A corrugating apron consisting of a plurality of corrugating bars having corrunasser? gation-formingiedges, each of said bars having grooves'on their sides, said sides being straight and parallel between said grooves and the corrugationforming uedges and slightly vtapering from said 'grooves to the bottom edge of the bar, and means for .con-h nectin saidbars together in series.

12. n a corrugating machine, the combination lof a supporting frame and a plurality of rollers, and: corrugation-forming means consisting of a pair of oppositely disposed intermeshing"interlockable flexible aprons running over said rollers, each of sald aprons; consisting of a series oftransverisely extending corrugating bars hingedly connected together for limitedl movement about their hinge connection, eachof saidl bars having a transversely extending corrugation-forming head portion yand a trans versely extending neck portion of less thickness than the headv whereby 'the heads of the bars on one apron will fit into or be disengaged from 4the necks on the other apron when the bars of Said aprons are 25.

spread apart inpassing over saidroliers. 13. In a corrugating machine,v the combination vwith a drive shaft and a plurality Y' so' of said gears to drive the apron.

of gearsand rollers mounted thereon, of a corrugatlng apron consisting of av series of corrugating `barsythe tops of said bars hav' ing -head and neck portions, the bbttoms of ysaidl bars having surfaces bearing on said rollers and slots for receiving said gears, and.y a plurality of rods hingedly connected to said bars and adapted to be engaged by the teeth 14. lln a corrugating machine, the combination with a drive shaft and a .plurality of gears and rollers mounted thereon, of a corrugating apron consisting of a series ofconsisting of a .series of corrugating bars' having bearing engagement with. said rollers, means for hingedly connecting said bars together so that said bars will extend ra-. dially from said rollers lwhen led thereover and so that they will .be relatively rigidlyr connected thereto.l o

16. In a corrugating machine, the combii nation of a plurality `of orrugation-form- Vfeo ing means joined together vinto a flexible aprdn, supporting means includingv a" roller over which said apron passes and provided with grooved portions, a bridge lsecured to the machine `and having wallsprovidedwith bearing portions for receiving the grooved portions df said roller to firmly supportsthe same whereby said corrugating means will be firmly supported in their entire length on said roller..

17. ln a corrugating machine, the combination, with supporting means and driving means, of a pair of oppositelydisposed interlockable corrugation'f` forming endless aprons comprising a plurality of abutting bars 1 having vent 0slots therein carried by said supporting means to receive and press moistenedfmaterial therebetween, and burners disposed below said aprons for drying `the material while it is disposed thereon. l'

18. ln a 4corrugating machine, the combination with supporting means and driving means, of a pair of oppositely disposed in` `terlockabl'e corrugation'l forming endless aprons carried `by said supporting means to receive and press moistened material theref between, meansv for drying said material whiledisposednpon the aprons, and means for stripping said material from the aprons.

19. ,A corrugating machine comprising a pair of oppositely disposed intermeshing interlockable corrugation-iforming flexible aprons, means for supportings said aprons,

'y meansfor permitting the spreading of the parts forming the aprons to introduce sheet material therebetween and remove the Acorrugated material therefrom, means for for ldriving moving material from the aprons.

20. A corrugat-ing machine comprising a pair of oppositely disposed Hexible aprons, each apron consisting of a seriesv of interlockable corrugation-forming bars, the bars of said aprons intermeshi'ng with each other 'V95 .feeding 4the material tothe aprons, means the aprons, and means for re- Y to press and feed the lmaterial disposed therebetween, means for supporting said aprons, means for hingedly connecting the* bars of each of said aprons together toppermit their spreading apart to introduce the u sheetv material between the aprons and remove the interlockable corrugated material p therefrom, means for feeding material be# tween the aprons, 'means for driving, the aprons, and means for rugated material from the aprons.

21. lln a corrugating machine, the4 combination of a pair of oppositely disposed' flexible endless aprons, each apron consisting of removing the cor--i a plurality of interlockable corrugationforming members hingedly connected tomeshing wit each other to\pre'ssand feed gether, themembers of said aprons inter-Y the l material 4disposed therebetween, supporting means for the apron comprising a frame and plurality of rollers mounted on the frame, 'means Von said members cooperating with said rollers to permitl the spreading apart of said members to introduce the sheet materialA between the aprons l and remove the interlockable corrugated material therefrom, means for feeding the sheet material between the aprons, means for driving the aprons, and means for removing the interlockable corrugated material from the aprons.

22. In a corrugating machine, the combination of a pair of oppositely disposed intermeshing flexible endless aprons, supporting means for said aprons, each apron consisting of a plurality of interlockable corrugation-forming parts hingedly connected together so that the parts will spread apart to receive and permit the removal of the material between them and will close tof press and feed the material between them,

means for feeding the. sheet material between the aprons, means for driving the aprons, and meansfor removing the interlockable corrugated material from the aprons.

23. In a corrugating machine, the combination of upperand lower interlockable corrugation-forming flexible aprons intermeshing with each other for a portion of their length, means for supporting said aprons, means for feeding material-to the intermeshing p'ortion of said aprons, means for stripping the material from the lower apron, means for .stripping the material from the upper apron, and means for driving one of said aprons, said driven apron serving to drive the other apron.

24. A corrugating .apron comprising a plurality of rods, linkage for joining said rods together to form an endless apron, and a plurality of .corrugating bars, each of said bars having an interlockable pivotal connection between adjacent rods.

25. A corrugating apron comprising a` plurality of rods, flexible connections for j o1n1ng sald rods together to form an endless apron and a plurality of abutting corrugating bars, each of said bars disposed between adjacent rods and having a pivotal connection therewith to permit the spreading of said bars with respect toeach other.

26. A corrugating apron comprising a plurality of abutting bars having corrugating forming edges and tapered sides below said edges adapted to Contact with each other to permit the spreading apart of said bars with respect to each other, and means for pivotally connecting said bars together to form an endless flexible apron.

27. A corrugating machine comprising in combination a pair of oppositely disposed Hexible aprons, each apron consisting of a series of transversely extending corrugation bars pivotally secured together, the bars of said aprons intermeshing with each other to press and feed the material disposed there-v etween and to form transversely extending parallelly disposed interlockable corrugations therein, means for supporting the aprons, means'for driving the aprons, and

28. A corrugating machine comprising a' pair of oppositely disposed iieXible aprons, each apron consisting of a series of interlockable corrugation forming bars, the bars of said aprons intermeshing with each other to press and feed the material disposed therebetween, means for supporting each of said aprons comprising main rollers at opposite ends of the aprons and a pair of spreadin rollers intermediate the main rollers an spaced away from the main rollers to spread the aprons, means for feeding the material to the aprons, means for driving the aprons and means for removing the material from the aprons. l

29. A corrugating machine comprising a pair of oppositely disposed interlockable corrugation forming endless aprons, a frame inclosing the aprons, means for supporting the. aprons within the frame, a partition dividing the framev into upper and lower compartments, means for heatingI each of said compartments, means for driving the aprons, and means for removing the material from `said aprons.

series of interlockable corrugation forming bars, the bars of said aprons intermeshing with each other to press and feed the material disposed therebetween, means for connecting the bars forming the aprons together to permit their spreading apart to introduce the sheet 'material between the aprons and remove the interlockable corrugated material therefrom, the bars of the upper apron being more loosely connected together than those of the lower apron to permit the introduction and removal of material between said aprons, means for feeding material between the aprons, means for driving the aprons, and'means for removing the corrugated material from the aprons.

31. A corrugating apron comprising a plurality of abutting bars having corrugation-forming heads, hinged connections between said bars constructed and arranged so that said bars will have a slight swinging motion above and below their hinged connections.

32. In a corrugating machine, the combination of a plurality of corrugation-forming means joined together into a flexible apron, supporting means for said apron including a shaft and a roller carried thereby, a bridge secured to the machine and having walls provided with bearing portions for said shaft to firmly support the same at various points along its length.

nanowar 33. corrugating-maolane oomprisin a pair of Oppositely 'disposed interlocka le corr-ug "frame, 5 lower ame, lnelol lb ation formlng endless aprons, a means for supporting the upper and runs ot each of the aprons in the means for drying the material While etween aprons, means :for removing the material from one of the aprons, means for drying the material left on the other apron, and means for removing the material from` this last named apron.

lln testimony whereof, l a-x' my signature.

p3 LGCIllll t 

